Second Chances
by FiftySLAY97
Summary: Troy is running from his past and the only place far enough is the frontier of space. He joins the Second Chances program and is heading to one of the newest colonies in the deepest part of space. But a creature from his past has followed him... (Underlined and bolded words are xenomorph speech/thoughts and italics are human thoughts)
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

As Troy Xoa sat, staring out of the porthole into the emptiness of space he let his mind wander. Troy is a guard aboard the LABYRINTH, a prison ship heading toward a new frontier planet. The planet was part of a "last chance" program, a place for condemned prisoners to go for a fresh start. The planet itself is mostly jungle with large lakes and many small mountains. _My new home_, thought Troy. Troy had signed up to the Frontier program a broken man, his entire family was wiped out in one moment. He had arrived home from his work at the factory and stepped into a nightmare. His family was before him, but in all the wrong ways, body parts where strewn about, entrails splattered across the floor and blood sprayed everywhere. The worst part was the skulls... every one of them was either smashed to bits or pierced through the forehead by a extremely powerful entity. Troy's legs gave out and he fainted before he hit the ground. Troy shook his head to try and clear his head of such thoughts, this was not just a second chance for the prisoners, but a chance for Troy to get away from the past...

On the far side of the ship another guard was on patrol, he walked down to one of the engine rooms to investigate some odd hissing and the disappearance of an inmate. _This is fucking stupid! How am I supposed to find some "odd hissing" when the whole goddamn place is hissing,_ The guard thought, _and the "missing inmate" probably just killed himself somehow._  
The guard continued through the engine room oblivious to the black form following. Suddenly he tripped and fell on his face. "Son of a-" he stuttered before he was roughly rolled over and slammed into the floor by hands that where too strong and much too sharp to be human. As his vision cleared he saw the face of his attacker, it's skin was black as pitch and ever so slightly shiny, it also had no eyes, what really set it apart as alien was its curved, elongated head. The guard was terrified, he had never seen anything like it, and if he was scared then it was nothing compared to what he was feeling when it happened. A presence entered his mind, it radiated malice and contempt, and above all of it a sence of hunger that chilled him to the bone. The presence in his mind, while still dark and threatening, was destinctly femenine. This puzzled the guard to no end, "your a girl?" He said aloud to himself.  
"**...Yes, I am..."** The guard promptly fainted, "**Well... that will work"**  
The xenomorph dragged its new catch to the vents of the ship and into her home, kicking past the remains of her last catch. **Maybe this one will be more talkative,** she thought to herself.


	2. Chapter 2 The Arrival

Troy stepped out of the landing craft and looked around. Several other landers were speeding out across the sky heading to wherever the pilot thought would be a good place to start a settlement. Every settler group came equipped with everything they needed to survive, agricultural equipment, livestock, materials for biulding, and of course weapons. The ship itself would act as a generator.

As troys eyes scanned over all the people exiting the ship he realized just how many people were counting on him to keep them safe. Each lander held a compliment of 25 colonists along with two guards, with this thought Troy realized something he had overlooked before. He called out to one of the colonists taking roll, Alex was his name. "Hey Alex, have you seen the other guard, I think his name was Nathan."

...

... Nathan's eyes slowly fluttered open, he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes but found his arms bound by something. A quick check of his body told him that the rest of him was also restrained. _Crap_, he thought, _how am I gonna get out of this mess? _He opened his eyes and peered around, at first he thought his eyes had not adjusted but he soon came to realize that the room was black. Every wall down to the cracks and crevices were covered in a black resinous substance that almost seemed alive. His fears were almost confirmed as a portion of the wall seemed to peel away and move toward him. But it was only his captor, not that that put him at ease in any way.

** "So...your finally awake",** the Xenomorph said. Nathan flinched, "stop that".

She stepped forward and put her teeth less than an inch from his face, **"Stop what?" **

"Um, stop talking in my head please", Nathan replied a bit sheepishly.

**"You are in no position to make demands"**, she answered, her teeth still millimeters away from Nathan's face.

"Ok then", Nathan said, calming down, "how about a question, what is your name?"

** "So you think you are worthy of my name hmm?"**, She said turning away. With a start Nathan realized that she was leaving. "We're are you going?", he asked.

**"None of your business"** she replied as she crawled through a hole in the ceiling **"By the way, my name is Xara", **her ever fading voice said.

After a few minuets of silence Nathan said, "So... I'm being held captive by a female monster named Xara who may or may not kill me and can speek with her mind, hmpf, either I'm the unluckiest man in the galaxy or I really need to lay off the alcohol." And with that he fainted again.


	3. Chapter 3 Encounters

Troy was worried.

"So you haven't seen him come out of the ship yet", he asked Alex, the man in charge of personnel.

"I haven't seen him yet, he may still be in the ship.", Alex replied, "I'm sure he's fine". "No, that doesn't sound like him, if there's one thing I know about Nathan, it's that he's punctual", Troy said, "I think there's something wrong". With that, Troy walked towards the ship. As he walked, he activated his communicator and called the pilot. "Taylor, have you seen Nathan anywhere?", he asked. After a moment, a female voice, with an accent he couldn't place, resonated through the communicator, "I haven't seen or heard from him since he went to investigate the disappearance of a colonist."

Troy pondered this for a moment, "Where was he investigating when you last heard from him?"

"Engine number 3 on B Deck", Taylor replied.

"Ok, I'll go find out what happened to him", Troy said, "I think we may have a stowaway on board. Taylor, I want you to oversee the colonists while I'm gone"

"I hear ya", Taylor replied. With that Troy turned off the communicator and started towards B Deck. He paused outside the ship's armory and, after a moment, stepped inside.

"First things first, lets get some real ammo", he said as he did just that, "These stun rounds might not do". Troy knew well that not all stowaways were human in this day and age. It could be a nest of the spider-like Niccupa, they run on six legs and are no bigger than a soccer ball. They come in packs of thirty to forty. Luckily the red breeds were the only ones poisonous, and those only caused slight paralysis unless you're allergic. The name "Xenomorph" crossed his mind. "No!", he assured himself, "The closest Xenomorph sightings are galaxys away. It's either people or Niccupa."

With the possibility of Niccupa onboard, he grabbed a stun grenade and some medical supplies. "Just in case", he said to himself. After checking over his gear, Troy left the armory and entered the elevator.

-Time passes-

The elevator opened and flooded the engine room with light. Troy stepped out as the elevator closed, plunging the large room into near-complete darkness. He took out his flashlight and looked for an access panel, with that he can do two things, activate the lights and check the security cameras to find out what happened to Nathan. He approached the panel in question and quickly flipped on the lights. This reviled nothing out of the ordinary.

"That makes sense, Niccupa would live in the vents", Troy whispered to himself, "and any people would have heard me coming and hid."

He returned his attention to the panel and noticed a serious problem, everything that concerned the cameras was destroyed. A quick look around made Troy's heart sink. Every last one of the cameras had been ripped apart with chilling precision, one of them even seemed to be melted. Fear began to blossom in Troy's heart. _This is too well thought out to be Niccupa, they are little more than animals,_ he thought, _and the panel and cameras were destroyed by something much stronger than a human_. In his mind Troy knew what this meant, he knew the only thing in the galaxy that was smart enough to cover its tracks and strong enough to destroy all the equipment. He just didn't want to believe it...

Unfortunately for him, fate wasn't going to leave any doubt in the matter. Troy heard a creak, then a crash. He whirled around and went to draw his pistol, but a black hand shot out and stopped him. Another clamped onto his neck and lifted him up. One look at his attackers face washed away ant doubt in his mind. He was staring into the face of the most dangerous predator in the known universe. The eyeless killer, the Black Death, the shadow of apacolypse, known by all as...

The Xenomorph.

The creature glanced at him for a moment and without warning flung Troy across the room. He slammed against the unforgiving metal wall and gasped as the air was forced out of his lungs. Troy landed on his feet but dident stay there long before he began to fall. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was the Xeno slowly stalking forward. _So...this is how I die...Pity, I thought it would be from some wierd alien virus, although this is not too different,_ Troy thought knowing too well the aliens method of breeding.

** Authors note: **

** Sorry I took so long getting this chapter out, school has been crazy and I also had a wee bit of writers block. Anyway I plan on getting another chapter by the end of next weekend. Oh, and I also need to credit my friend Nathan for his continued support and help with gramerical and spelling errors. Couldn't do it without you buddy! I also can't do it without you readers out there, please review and follow! **


	4. Chapter 4 Thinking

Zara was very pleased with herself. This human had come expecting trouble, she could tell by its smell. However he was nearly frozen with fear when she had shown herself. This was a huge accomplishment for Zara as, even though she was a full head and shoulders taller than the average Histash drone, she had little fighting experience. Everything she knew she got from her instincts.

Her mind began to wander as she dragged her new catch to her little nest, _Of course I would know a lot more about fighting if my hive hadn't aban- NO! There's no need to think of that. That's all behind me now. _

Zara tried to think of more positive things, and when that failed she just focused on the task at hand... dragging the human through the ventilation. _If this one is as keen to talking to me as my other guest i'll have no end to company. Even if not the other one is plenty to talk to. He seemed sad when I left, I wonder if I should bring it something to eat... no, it will be fine._ The human she dragged behind her groaned slightly. _If it knows what's good for it, it won't make any trouble for itself. _

But the human had no plans to remain captive...

(POV switch)

Troy came to feeling like he had a leg up on his opponent...in a way. He was being dragged by his leg and it was so far in the air that it was completely numb. With the bad joke over and done, Troy focused on the here and now. One of the few things they taught Troy in the one month training course he took, before he shipped out on this little adventure, was everything that had anything to do with the Xenomorph and the Niccupa. With no possibility of Niccupa on the ship he tried to remember everything he had learned about the Xenomorph.

They live in hives like bees and can number in the thousands. They have a sort of hive mind and each has their own rank but seem to view all but the Queen as equal.  
The Drones are small, only a little smaller than a human, and nimble. And, while weak by Xeno standards, still many times stronger than a human. They have a slower operating brain and listen to the Queen for guidance.

The Warriors are slightly bigger than a drone and much tougher, they can bend solid steel bars and take shotgun rounds to the face. They also have ridges along their arms, legs, and head to denount their rank. They have higher brain power than drones but still listen devoutly to the Queen.

Then, there's the Praetorians... The only goal in their existence is to protect the Queen, they stand almost twice the height of a full grown warrior and have ordinate "crowns" atop their heads. They are so strong that they have been known to take a tank round to the face, then proceed to rip said tank to pieces, and move on to the next one. They never leave the Queens side and will give their lives without hesitation. They are devilishly clever and can make most decisions without the Queen and will often act as advisers to the Queen.

And finally, there's the Queen. She is the largest of all Xenomorphs standing about the size of a small house. The only feasible way to kill one is to bomb the hive, where she almost never leaves, into a steaming radiation riddled crater (this has not worked in every case). She has a very large, very ordinate crown and has a small set of secondary arms that don't appear until adulthood. The Queen is in all ways a mastermind genius, she can speak to all of the hive and give a coordinated attack plan in seconds. The Queen lays eggs that start the cycle of Xeno life.

The eggs the Queen lays contain a spider-like creature that is pale in color. The "facehugger", as it is often called, emerges from the egg and laches to the face if its victim. It then plants an embryo into the chest of the victim, now called the host, where it grows until it becomes a "chestburster".

All Xenomorphs start as a chestburster, a small snakelike creature that is fairly defenseless against any outside force. That said, they reach a deadly size in about one day. Their name comes from the fact that they claw their way out of the host's chest cavity and "burst" into life.

And, while all this knowledge was fine and good, none of this was helping Troy's current situation. The Xeno that was currently dragging him across the floor looked nothing like the pictures they showed him during training. For one it was bigger than a Warrior, but still much smaller than a Praetorian and certainly not as large as a Queen. It also had a small crown and a large blade-like tip to its tail. The whole thing matched up with nothing Troy had learned. He had little idea what he was up against and whatever it is, it had the upper hand.

Troy took a chance and took a peek at his surroundings, he saw the interior of the vents and some of the resin stuff the Xenos spat all over the walls of their hives. _Well, if I'm gonna make a move its now or never,_ Troy thought. But he had no idea how to do it. Then he remembered one of the last things they tought him. "Xenomorphs are extremely sensitive to sound because they use a form of echolocation. Remember, this is both a blessing and a curse to them..."


	5. Chapter 5 - Taking Action

Troy quickly formulated a plan. He moved his hand, as slow as a snail, toward his waist and silently grasped the cylinder attached to his regulation utility belt. He may have lost his gun but he was far from defenseless. He silently unclipped a flash bang and began to pull it back. But as he did this the metal clip that had held the grenade snapped back into place with a loud Click! The Xeno spun to face Troy as he furiously crawled away on his back. Without pausing he leapt to his feet, never taking his eyes off the Xeno who was just standing there watching. The two stood there eying each other for a moment, until the Xeno cocked its head to the side quizzically.

"Well, what do you want", Troy questioned, trying to remain as unthreatening as possible. The Xeno raised its talon and pointed it to his left hand, Troy looked down and noticed that he was still holding the flash grenade. Then, an idea formed in Troy's head. "You want this?", he asked gesturing to the grenade. The Xeno nodded and held out its hand.

"Ok then, here you go!", he crouched down to the ground and pulled the pin from the flash bang, "Just remember, you asked for it." He smiled and rolled the grenade to the unsuspecting Xeno.

Zara had no idea what the small cylinder she had picked up was nor what it did. And what did the human mean about me asking for it? She lifted it to her snout and tentatively sniffed it.

And then, it exploded.

Zara flailed backwards hissing and screaming as loud as she could. But heard nothing. She stumbled around blindly, crashing into the walls and clutching her head. She couldn't hear, and because of that she couldn't see because for her sight and sound were one and the same. All she could feel was her mind repeating the same primal urge over and over, "Run. Run! RUN!"

And she did. ️

He had no idea exactly what would happen when the grenade went off and he didn't intend to stay around to find out. He bolted down deeper into the vent, he had to find Nathan ASAP! Luckily he didn't have to go far. About twenty yards down, the walls now completely coated in the black resinous substance, he reached a large intersection. The substance itself was very hard and ever so slightly slippery causing Troy to lose his footing every once an a while.

"Nathan! Can you hear me?!", Troy shouted.

"Ugg-", the sound came from directly behind Troy causing him to jump and spin around, "Do you have to be so loud?"

Nathan was plastered to the wall by the same substance coating all the walls. Oh god...is he hived? Troy thought remembering the term for an inpregnated host.

"There's no eggs", Nathan said reading the terror on Troys face, "I'm not a host! I'm fine! A little hungry, but fine."

"Oh, thank God" Troy said now ecstatic to know his friend was going to be ok, "Here, let me get you down".

Troy pulled out a small plasma cutter and began to cut his friend down. "How many Xenos have you seen around here", Troy asked trying to asses the situation.

"Just the one you met before, and you seem to have scared her off."

"Wait... Scared her off... How do you know it was a she?"

Nathan chuckled turning a bit red, "We'll, I didn't check if that's what your asking."

"Oh, man that's gross...why did you have to go and put that image in my head."

Nathan smirked, "We'll then, I think I did you a favor, considering you like that kind of thing..."

For that Nathan received a fist in the gut. "Hmpf! Ow! Fine you win, your not a Xenist", the pained Nathan uttered, using the slang term for a Xeno lover.

"Dang man that hurt, talk about kicking a man while he's-" Nathan stiffened, "Alright, Troy, get me down now."

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"No, I mean NOW, she's coming back!"

"What! How do you know that?!"

"No time to explain just get me down, she's almost here!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying! But it will be a minute."

"...That's too long!", Nathan squeaked, his face turning chalk white, "She's already here..."

Troy turned around, fear gripping his heart with icy talons, and came face to face once again with the Xenomorph. Only this time it, she, as he now knew, was clearly quite mad. Hissing menacingly, she raised her tail and placed the tip of her tail blade just under his chin, raising it ever so slightly. The message was simple...you move...you die.


End file.
